FCIL-SIS Timeline, 1985-2005

FCIL-SIS Timeline, 1985-2005

July 19851	FCIL Special Interest Section created. The first Chair is Claire M. Germain.2 FCIL-SIS incorporates the AALL Special Committee on International Placements as a permanent subcommittee.
July 1986	FCIL-SIS members first sit together at the AALL meeting luncheon.
1986	Dan Wade compiles the first SIS directory. The SIS has 116 members.
1987	Vol. 1, No. 1 of the FCIL Newsletter (then un-numbered) is published. The editor from this issue until October 1988 is Dan Wade.3
1987	The SIS elects Maria Smolka-Day as its first Secretary-Treasurer.
July 1988	The Latin American Law Librarians become a Working Group of the SIS. This Working Group becomes the model for other such groups, which become the Interest Groups.
1988	The SIS passes resolution on “taking necessary steps to formalize specific recommendations to the AALL to deal with the problem of the decreasing number of qualified candidates to fill vacancies in foreign and international law librarians.”
October 1988	Mila Rush takes over the editorship of the Newsletter. Dan Wade, then-SIS Chair, expresses his hope that “our SIS will sponsor a number of working groups to meet ... around selected topics.” He lists law collecting from Africa and from the Soviet Union. Dan reports that SIS membership has increased to 260, a “substantial increase” over 1987, and notes “many new foreign members, especially Canadians.”
1989	Ellen Schaffer sends members a Foreign Law Survey to assess foreign law collections.
1989	Dan Wade surveys librarians on what foreign law librarians and specialists do. His results are presented at a meeting of the National Legal Resources Committee of AALL.
1989	Law Library Journal publishes the report of the AALL National Legal Resources Committee. This report targets the training of the next generation of civil, international, and comparative law librarians and information specialists as one of two educational priorities for law librarians.
1989	The SIS has “about 300” members. Membership Committee is created. Working Groups include Latin American Law Librarians (Dan Wade), African Law Working Group (Victor Essien), and Soviet Law Working Group (Blanka Kudej).
1990	Pre-AALL workshop: AALL Summer Institute "International Law: The Basics and Beyond."
1990	Education Committee and Program Committee merge to become Education/Program Committee.
July 1991	Pre-AALL meeting workshop: National Legal Resources Committee sponsors a one-day workshop to discuss training of foreign and international law librarians.
1991	Ellen Schaffer’s survey on international and foreign law collections is published as Directory of Foreign Law Collections in Selected Law Libraries.
April 31, 1991	Lyonette Louis-Jacques and Mila Rush launch the INT-LAW electronic discussion group, which is designed to provide “a way to communicate among ourselves quickly and informally, to sound out ideas with others in the profession, and to get immediate responses from the field.”
1991	New working group on Teaching Foreign and International Research is established.
May 1992	The National Legal Resources Committee, chaired by Claire Germain, publishes a plan approved by the Executive Board in April, titled “Training Foreign and International Law Librarians: The Next Generation.” The plan calls for conducting a sequence of five institutes over a three-year period, covering all areas of foreign and international law. The 1993 Winter Institute, “Introduction to Foreign Legal Systems,” co-directed by Richard Danner and Marie-Louise Bernal and presented at the Library of Congress on February 3-6, 1993, is the first course to be offered.
1992	Chair Mila Rush uses her column in the Newsletter to suggest extending “some form of recognition to our colleagues who travel from foreign countries to attend our Annual Meeting.” She and Jonathan Pratter tentatively plan a “hospitality period” as part of the SIS business meeting. This idea develops into the Reception for Attendees from Abroad.
October 1992	Newsletter contains results of survey on FCIL Members’ job titles, type of institution, education, experience, training, and language proficiency, compiled by David McFadden.
1993	Electronic Issues Group is created, with the stated goal of “get[ting] a handle on rapid developments in electronic technology that affect the work of the SIS.
July 1993	First “social hour” with foreign visitors immediately after the SIS business meeting, called Hospitality with International Colleagues.
1993	“Adopt-a-Flag” program is launched to distinguish the SIS AALL Exhibit table. The project solicits members to donate money to allow the SIS to buy country flags.
February 1993	AALL Winter Institute on Foreign Legal Systems is held. This institute is the first of five sponsored by AALL and Oceana.
February 1993	Newsletter contains results of Lyonette Louis-Jacques’s survey on teaching FCIL research. This effort is the precursor to the SIS webpage on FCIL Legal Research teaching materials.
July 1993	AALL Summer Institute on International Organizations
July 1994	AALL Summer Institute on Transnational Legal Transactions
July 1994	FCIL-SIS Reception for Attendees from Abroad is renamed (from Hospitality with International Colleagues).
1994	With the assistance of Washburn University Law School, the Newsletter becomes available on the web.
July 1995	AALL Summer Institute on International Business Law: Legal Transactions in a Global Economy.
July 1995	The SIS celebrates its tenth anniversary at Business Meeting. Claire Germain gives a brief history of the SIS. Commemorative pens are distributed.
July 1996	AALL Summer Institute on Public International Law
July 1996	Jonathan Franklin initiates alternative lunch for SIS members not attending the AALL lunch.
1997	Anne Burnett creates first SIS webpage.
1997	Newsletter moves to AALLNET.
1998	Strategic Planning Committee, chaired by Margareta Horiba, is created.
Spring 1998	FCIL-SIS electronic discussion group debuts, moderated by Mila Rush.
July 1999	First “private” SIS program is held, at which Ruth Bird discusses Australian law and legal research. This program becomes the prototype for “Executive Committee Presents…” programs.
July 2000	Term “Interest Groups” substituted for “Working groups” to dispel perception that attendance was open only to members actively working on specific projects.
2000	Interest Group on Teaching Foreign, Comparative and International Legal Research gets its own website, created by Christine Corcos.
December 2000	Ellen Schaffer creates Foreign Librarian’s Grant, named the Ellen Schaffer Foreign Librarian’s Grant by Jean Davis, then SIS chair. Tracy Thompson chairs the first FCIL-SIS Grant Committee.
June 21, 2001	Sania Battalova of Kyrgyz Republic is announced as the first recipient of the Ellen Schaffer Foreign Librarian’s Grant.4
July 2001	Chair Jean Davis inaugurates the “Spirit of the SIS” award.
October 2001	The Newsletter is distributed electronically for the first time.
2002	Interest Groups include African Law, Asian Law, CIS and East European, Clearinghouse for Internships and International Personnel Exchanges, Electronic Issues, Latin American Law, and Teaching Foreign and International Legal Research.
2003	Tracy Thompson organizes “Host a Foreign Law Librarian Attending AALL 2003,” an effort to provide designated librarians to help welcome and orient foreign attendees.
2003	Dan Wade, on behalf of the SIS, drafts proposal for new series of FCIL workshops to be held in conjunction with AALL annual meetings.
2003	SIS three-year Strategic Plan (2003-2006) is created.
April 2004	The SIS sponsors AALL Professional Development Online Forum: Where in the World Did You Find That? Exploring Foreign and International Law Librarianship.
July 2004	First of several new FCIL workshops, Shopping in the Global Marketplace: Information Sources for International Trade, is held before the AALL meeting.
2004	Redesigned SIS website debuts on AALLNET, with substantial work from student member Ann T. Davey.

Appendix 1: FCIL Chairs, 1985-2005

Term Chair

1985/86 Claire M. Germain

1986/87 Linda Thompson

1987/88 Ellen Schaffer

1988/89 Daniel Wade

1989/90 Tim Kearley

1990/91 Janet Zagorin

1991/92 Amber Lee Smith

1992/93 Milagros Rush

1993/94 Jonathan Pratter

1994/95 Lyonette Louis-Jacques

1995/96 Francisco Avalos

1996/97 Margareta Horiba

1997/98 William McCloy

1998/99 Maria Smolka-Day

1999/00 Katherine Topulos

2000/01 Jean Davis

2001/02 Tracy Thompson

2002/03 Kenneth Rudolph

2003/04 Jean Wenger

2004/05 Mirela Roznovschi

Appendix 2: FCIL Newsletter Editors, 1987-2005

March 1987 Dan Wade

October 1988 Mila Rush

October 1991 Dan Wade

October 1993 Ken Rudolph

October 1997 Anne Burnett

October 2001 Stephanie Burke

October 2004 Annette Demers

October 2005 Amy Burchfield

Appendix 3: Foreign Librarian’s Grant Recipients, 2001-2005



Year	Recipient	Country
2001	Sania Battalova	Kyrgyz Republic
2002	Yemisi Dina5	The Bahamas
2003	Emmanuel Darkey	Ghana
2004	Milagros Santos-Ong	Philippines
2005	Irma Aladashvili	Georgia

1 The FCIL-SIS evolved from an AALL committee. In 1941, AALL created the Committee on Cooperation with Latin-American Law Libraries. In 1950, this committee became the Committee on Foreign Law. By 1965, it had added “and International;” 1977 saw the addition of the word “Comparative.”

2 For a list of all chairs through 2005, see Appendix 1.

3 For a list of all Newsletter editors through 2005, see Appendix 2.

4 For a list of all Foreign Librarian’s Grant recipients from 2001-2005, see Appendix 3.

5 Ms. Dina was unable to attend the annual meeting due to visa problems.